


The Princess in Scratched Armor

by ALGrace



Category: N/A - Fandom
Genre: Other, Princess - Freeform, dragon - Freeform, fairy tale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-16
Updated: 2014-08-16
Packaged: 2018-02-13 10:43:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2147727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ALGrace/pseuds/ALGrace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a princess locked away in a tower gets tired of waiting decides to do something for herself for a change</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

My world was quiet. It was dark. It was lonely. Until night came.

I would sit in my tower, looking out over my father’s kingdom, watching the seasons pass. And every night, the beast below would stir and rise, its fiery breath staining the grounds orange and red.

I had been in the tower as long as I could remember. I didn’t know why. I could barely remember my parents’ faces. I couldn’t even remember my name. But I knew I was here for a reason.

If only I knew what that was.

Knights rode in, day and night, trying in vain to save me from the dragon. I used to watch them as a child. I remember the very first. A young boy, no older than sixteen had come to rescue me only a year after my tenth birthday. A year of solitude, and I thought I was done.

I cried when the dragon tossed his body into the air and let it crash back down onto the rocks.

For five years, I watched the dragon slaughter knight after knight, who I had come to call Kitten. Ironically at first, but the name stuck.

Finally, I decided I had had enough.

Enough sitting around, doing nothing but weeping in my fortress. Watching hundreds of men die at my front gate. I needed a focus. Something to do, but what?

I started with the stairs.

The tallest tower, with my room at the top and the dusty, empty dining hall at the bottom had a flight of five hundred and sixty four steps running straight up and down. I ran up and down twice in one day, and collapsed at the top, exhausted.

I ran three times the next day. Five times the next.

I ripped my dresses shorter so they wouldn’t hinder my movement. They grew loose around my waist and chest and fit closer around my legs.

But after I could run up and down ten times without collapsing, I needed more.

I scoured the empty castle. While in the cellar, stocked with enough food to keep me fed for many more years to come, I found an old wheelbarrow. I filled it with rocks and pushed it. Running laps around the castle’s ground floor.

My arms were limp and sore the next day, but I pushed on, enjoying the feeling.

Soon I ripped the sleeves off my dress, as the muscle underneath made them too tight to move in.

For two years I developed more and more activities as I went along. Hooking my feet under the bar of my bed and sitting up, over and over. Swinging from the rafters on the ceiling, hand over hand.

My skin developed callouses and my dresses didn’t fit quite right, but I didn’t care. I was more alive than I had been in years.

It was when I saw a bird dive from the sky and into the moat surrounding the castle, catching a fish in it’s claws, when inspiration truck.

I knew what I had to do.

I crept through the early morning into the part of the castle I never ventured. The front gates.

Knights and princes alike had died here, leaving their armor and weapons to rot. If only I could get my hands on a few pieces, I knew I could use them to practice. 

Kitten had curled up in front of the gate, but I could see the hilt of a sword right by her tail.

I could get it. I knew I could. I just needed to be quiet. Silent steps, held breath, and an eternity later, my hand brushed the edge of the hilt. I took hold carefully, and pulled with all my might.

My heart leapt to my throat as the sword came free under the skeleton-filled armor with a ringing so loud I was surprised the bones did not jump in fright.

Kitten whirled around, growling. Her massive, unearthly blue eyes fixing on me. She opened her scaly black jaws to teeth as long as my legs. The back of her throat lit up as orange-red fire started build

I turned tail and ran, screaming all the way. I slammed into the wall as I turned the corner, fire roaring past me in a heat so powerful I was surprised I didn’t lose my hair.

Getting rid of Kitten would be the biggest challenge I had ever faced, but I would be ready. After all, I now had my sword.


	2. Chapter 2

The sword was heavy, and nearly as long as I was. I carried it up to my room and began cleaning it. With the dirt and soot cleared away, it was silvery and shone like a new sword. A single opal was set into the hilt, and right above it, the words slánaitheoir banphrionsa were etched into the blade. I didn’t know what they meant. They were written in the old tongue, something I could recognize but not understand. Still, these were my words now, and I would bear them along with my armor.

The air grew chilly in the castle as I practiced with my sword. New muscles strained with the effort and while I sorely wished for my sleeves back, I would not trade them for my new strength.

I snuck down to the front gates a few more times, filching small pieces of armor at a time, neatly dodging Kitten all the while. Though the very last time I stole something, she nearly caught me.

My hair, nearly brushing the floor, was burned off. It hung just past my ears. That shook me. While I didn’t mind the loss, I had never been so close to Kitten’s flames that they had brushed me.

I needed to be more careful.

But it was worth it. Now I had the final piece to my armor set: a helmet. I set it upon the shoulders of the rest, all mismatched and scratched, but perfect. The armor was beautiful and fit me well. I just needed to wait now. Wait for my opportunity.

I did not have to wait for long.

A man rode up to the castle one morning, a few months later. I watched from my window. Tall, broad shouldered, riding a horse that was as black as Kitten. I sighed. He was doomed, but he was my chance.

I donned my armor and slid my sword into the sheath at my hip. I picked up my helmet and looked in the mirror. My right arm, the sword wielding one, was free of armor. My left doubled up, since I had yet to acquire a shield. Chest plate and chain mail covered my torso, but my legs were also left free of armor, for speed. I wore my soft-soled boots in favor of the clanking armored ones for stealth.

I drew a deep breath and slid the helmet on, staring at my reflection through the visor.

I was ready.

“Princess!” the man shouted from the front gate. I paused in my descent.

“Princess never fear! I shall save you from the dragon!”

I rolled my eyes and continued on my way. He was the same as the rest.

Then I heard Kitten roar.

I ran to the gates, drawing my sword. I was ready. I could do this.

I stepped into view just at the knight was thrown from his horse. It bolted, leaving him stranded.

Kitten reared back, her throat glowing with her fire, and roared, the flames engulfing the floor.

Terror raced up my spine, but once the flames cleared I saw the knight had gotten out of the way just in time, though not enough time to save one of his arms.

He screamed as the hot armor melted his skin inside.

I flinched, then steadied my resolve. There was no place for fear here. I was killing Kitten, and getting out of this dressed-up prison.

I took a deep breath, and darted forward. Kitten was still advancing toward the knight, who was desperately trying to escape.

He saw me a split second before I lunged, thrusting slánaitheoir banphrionsa forward.

Kitten screamed in rage as my blade sliced open the soft skin of her inner thigh. She whirled around, wings up in anger. Thick blood spilled across the floor.

I felt sick. I had never killed so much as a bug before. Had I made a mistake?

Kitten reared, fire bubbling to the surface. I ran and dove behind a broken battlement for cover. Fire rushed overhead, the heat nearly unbearable.

No. I hadn’t made a mistake. I was leaving, and I would die trying.

Once the fire stopped I ran out.

Kitten watched me with her luminous eyes. I was a foe she had never encountered before. A princess, fighting her own dragon. This is what the bards would sing of. No more princes and knights. A princess. The princess who saved herself.

I felt anger and pain rise in my chest. Tears threatened but I forced them away. I needed to see clearly.

All the years of loneliness and confusion. My entire life before this hell forgotten. I felt it rear its ugly head, and give me strength.

“Slánaitheoir Banphrionsa!” I screamed with all my might, thrusting my sword in the air. Kitten flinched, surprised. And I rushed forward.

She roared, swinging her vicious claws at me. I tucked and rolled, missing them my inches. I came to my feet and jumped, slicing my sword down her underbelly. Hot blood poured over me as Kitten screamed in anger and pain. I yanked off my helmet and threw it aside, shaking blood from my eyes. Kitten tried to get me out from under her, but it was too late. I scaled up one of her back legs and hauled myself up her side.

“I am the princess who saved herself!” I shouted at Kitten, and ran up her back, up her long neck, and drove slánaitheoir banphrionsa deep into the back of her skull.

Kitten started to shriek, but it faded away. She stumbled forward, and finally collapsed with a crash that shook the foundations.

I stepped off her, shaking and exhilarated. I could leave. The fight was over. I was free. I turned to the front gates, but the knight from before stood in my path.

“Princess? Princess Alexandra?” he asked, still clutching his arm.

“I know of no Alexandra. I am Slánaitheoir Banphrionsa, named after my sword.” I told him.

“I insist you come with me, Princess Alexandra. Your father will be pleased you can return home.”

I looked carefully at the knight. He was handsome, if dirty, and looked strong. I smiled.

“No.” I said. I cleaned my sword on my dress and slid it back into it’s sheath. I turned around and went back into the castle.

He followed me.

“Princess please.” The knight said. “It is time to return home.”

I grabbed a satchel and started filling it with food.

“I am going home, knight. But not with you.”

“It’s dangerous out there!”

I turned to him and raised an eyebrow. “I think I can handle myself.” I said dryly.

He stared at me, shocked. I slung the satchel over my shoulder and walked to the throne room, so far out of use dust stirred on the floor as I walked. I pulled several jewels from the throne and put them in my satchel as well.

“Princess!” the knight called.

“You’re still here?”

“Princess if you do not come willingly with me then I will take you home by force.” The knight threatened.

I froze, then slowly turned to face him. He paled and swallowed hard.

“You will what?” I asked softly.

“T-take you b-by force.” The knight choked out. I slowly drew my sword. I knew if he fought me he had the experience to win, but he didn’t know that. He just watched me slay a dragon.

“You will stand out of my way, and return to my father to tell him of what actually happened. And when I do finally return to my home, if and when I see fit to do so, I will question him of the events of this day. If they are untrue, I will seek you out and make you wish Kitten had gotten you.”

The knight backed away from the door. I walked past him carefully, waiting for him to strike. I backed away down the hall.

“Wait!” he called, just as I was about to turn. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

I paused. “Do you know what slánaitheoir banphrionsa means?”

He shook his head. I shrugged.

“Guess I’ll figure that out for myself too.”

When he made no move to follow, I turned and ran.

I ran through the castle, past the dead dragon, and out the front gates. I didn’t stop there though. Over the moat bridge, across the paved courtyard and suddenly, I was free. I breathed in the air, and exhilaration filled my lungs, giving me speed.

I was free.


End file.
